Friends?
by Kitsuki-chan
Summary: “Aanoo…Sangochan, InuYasha’s talking to Mirokusama right now, so maybe we could head back…” Sango raised an eyebrow at the idea of InuYasha actually just talking to Miroku. “Okay, so he’s standing on his head yelling at him, but still!” the miko correcte
1. Tomodachi?

Disclaimer:

**Kai:** Onii-chan! Come back! You're supposed to tell all the scary rabid fanpeoples something!

**InuYasha:** URUSAI! I'm not telling them anything!

**Kai:** MOUU! Kitsu-chan doesn't own Nii-chan or the show, or anyone from the show or Rumiko Takahashi or….

**Kitsuki:** -sweatdrops- I think they get the idea, Kai…

WARNING!

**Kai:** Ooooh, Onii-chan! Look!

**InuYasha:** Keh! So she finally did it, eh?

**Chiidori:** Did what? –blinks-

**Kitsuki:** -meeps and desparately tries to cover Chiidori's eyes- Nothing! I did nothing!

**Chiidori:** -pulls Kitsuki's hands off her face- Mouu! What's the big…. –catches sight of shoujo-ai in fic- YOU DID WHAT!

**Kitsuki:** Ehehe…-sweatdrops and smiles apologetically-

**Chiidori:** YOU WROTE A FIC ABOUT…ABOUT….-passes out-

**Kitsuki:** Ah! Goshujin-sama!

**Kai:** Yep, she wrote a fic about you two!

**InuYasha:** As if anyone would want to read something about two girls…-crosses arms angrily and turns his back on the whole scene-

**Kai:** -smiles cutely- Don't read if you don't want to! But you've been warned! -steals InuYasha's pants and runs-

**InuYasha:** KAI! –chases her furiously-

Chapter 1 dedicated to Niwa-kun in appreciation for friendship despite everything ;

SMM-WHAACK!

"Hmph!"

Kagome turned just in time to see the taijiya stomping off in a huff, the sound of her enraged slap still resonating in the air.

'…..here we go again,' she thought to herself, observing the houshi sprawled in the dirt speculatively. She'd tried talking to him about the whole 'personal space' and 'touching' issue multiple times before, but maybe this time he'd listen…

InuYasha wasn't about to wait that long, however. He'd already leapt over the miko's head and landed squarely on Miroku's. "You're slowing us down!" he growled pitilessly at a swirly-eyed Miroku. Kagome and Shippou sweatdropped as Kirara tilted her head to one side. Well, that was one way to deal with him. Now to find the taijiya.

Sango sighed, swishing her feet absentmindedly in the little stream she'd found. It was a well-known fact that the stupid houshi always managed to upset her with his caresses and constant bath-peeking, nor was it any news that he could make her blush most quickly. Kagome had often insisted to her (and InuYasha for that matter) that these were proof that she loved him! Or at least liked him. She shook her head, denying…what? That she liked the perverted horndog? Oh she liked him well enough she supposed, but she didn't really like him touching her and she had never really found herself attracted to him either, certainly not the way he was to her! What if someone else were to touch her though? And again! She'd been down this road before a few times, usually late into the night when sleep refused to whisk her from her reality. If, say, InuYasha were to caress her the way Miroku did so often….As usual, she tried to imagine it and fell over twitching at the pure absurdity of the idea of the hanyou doing anything of the sort to anyone, much less her. But still… if …well, it would be about the same she supposed. He was well enough as a person and even a friend, but the slightest nanometer beyond friendship and she'd shove Hiraikotsu so far up his….she coughed mentally. Nevermind. Then her treacherous mind took a new turn. Say Kagome were to perform such an action…she felt her face heat up almost immediately. 'N-nani!' Even in her mind she couldn't make anything coherent to that one.

Before any more thoughts could form themselves, she heard rustling leaves behind her and turned in time to see a little branch swing back and knock Kagome off her feet with a cry of surprise. Speak of the devil!

"Kagome-chan!" she called, jumping to feet, anxious to help. The young girl was already pulling herself to her feet, a small tear making itself known in as a slash across the bottom of her uniform's shirt. She smiled sheepishly at the taijiya, attempting to cover the rip with one hand and obviously feeling that it was her fault she'd been knocked off her feet, not the tree's.

"A-anoo…Sango-chan, InuYasha's talking to Miroku-sama right now, so maybe we could head back…" Sango raised an eyebrow at the idea of InuYasha actually just talking to Miroku. "Okay, so he's standing on his head yelling at him, but still!" the miko corrected.

"I'd rather stay here for a few more minutes," she replied. "It's just kinda…nice…to get away from everyone for a little, ya know?" She cringed mentally at how stupid she knew she must sound. Mouu, but she was horrible with words!

"Y-ya," her friend replied, turning as if to leave.

"Kagome-chan?" she blinked questioningly at her back, tilting her head to one side much like Kirara. Kagome smiled again, a little confused this time.

"You said you wanted to be alone, ni?"

"U-uun, demo….I didn't really mean you had to leave. I mean…anoo…that is…" she struggled for words, cursing whatever gods had put her together. "InuYasha and Shippou are always so noisy and argue so much over nothing and Houshi-sama's always trying to seduce some girl or worse yet, seduce me ! And Kirara already found me and left to hunt for dinner, but you're not noisy and we don't argue and you certainly don't hit on me, so…" she was shocked to feel the familiar heat rising in her cheeks. "What I mean is…ah…I-I'd kind of like it if you'd stay…" she stared at the ground, cursing more gods and herself as well, hoping fervently that the miko wouldn't notice the light pink tinge under her eyes. What the hells was going on! Why was she so tongue-tied all of sudden around Kagome ! Unless…oh no…that stupid thought had wormed its way into her brain and taken hold! And she just had to go and make that comment out loud about it, too…

Kagome blinked, oblivious to pretty much everything the poor confused taijiya was thinking. "Well, since you put it so eloquently, I have no choice but to stay and keep you company," she teased with a mock curtsy that lead her skirt directly into another sharp-ended branch. She sweatdropped, staring at it while holding her pose. "This will be fun to explain back home," she sighed. Sango helped her out of the tree-trap, noticing, much to her dismay, that the second tree had created a slash that came almost high enough to show off Kagome's underwear and the first tree had been cunning enough to create a tear big enough to display a sneak peek of the miko's reasonably flat stomach. She was not so much dismayed by the ruining clothing or even where the tears were as by the fact that she'd noticed their strategic…locations.

'Why me!' she railed to no one in particular.

After untangling the miko (twice) from the murderous trees while somehow managing to fight down what was becoming a permanent blush, Sango found herself mentally exhausted. Fighting youkai was one thing, fighting off a perverted servant of Buddha something along the same lines, and watching Shippou and InuYasha fight was something else altogether, but trying to fend off her own traitorous thoughts left her drained as nothing else ever had. Forget the fact that it was completely and utterly wrong for her to have such thoughts about another girl, it was completely and utterly wrong for her to think anything of the sort about Kagome ! Kagome had always trusted her and, to a certain extent, depended on her for a great many things. As the only other girl (Kirara aside) in their traveling group, there was a certain bond between the two. She sweatdropped. Traveling group? She made it sound like they were some kind of gypsies or traveling performers. But then…she glanced across the fire at Shippou, latched onto InuYasha's leg as InuYasha had hold of a branch with one hand, ramen in another, and the unoccupied foot balanced against the tree trunk. Then again, it was an accurate description. She sighed and focused her attention back on her original thoughts. Not only could she not think about Kagome like that because she was a girl, she couldn't think about her like that because she was Kagome! She trusted her! Depended on her! There was no way she could let her down! She began eating her share of the instant ramen with a decisive slurp. She refused to fail!

To her credit, Sango lasted quite a good while with her resolve to not let Kagome in on her secret thoughts. But even as she entertained them as stupid little things to pass the time, they grew deeper and deeper, worming little tendrils into her heart. Far before she even began to recognize it for what it was, she was already waist deep in something far bigger than herself.


	2. Author Note

Konnichiwa, minna-san! No, sadly this is not a new chapter (gomen gomen!) Just wanted to let everyone know that it may take a while between chapters due to…circumstances ;; See, thing is, our dear Chiidori would most likely kill me if she found out that I had written (and indeed, published) a fanfic revolving around our real situation. ;; That's just her. So I try to work on it when she's asleep or in the other room, etc, etc. So don't panic if it takes a while to get the next chapter going! I promise I _am_ working on it! I really am!

And thank you soooooooooo much, Lady-of-TormentDeath! -pounces and clings- I LOVE YOU!

Kitsuki-chan


	3. Kissu?

Kitsuki: -dodges around, peeking past corners to search out danger- Sorry this update took so long, minna! Chiidori-chan and I have been having...issues... -bows- gomen nasai!

Disclaimer:

Kai: -pops up out of nowhere with InuYasha's pants- HiHiiiii!

InuYasha: KAAAAAI! GIVE ME BACK MY PANTS!

Kai: -meeps- Kitsu-chan no own Nii-chan or show! -dodges a furious hanyou- Nii-chan! The readers can see you! Put some pants on!

InuYasha: ...-glares at her before running in the opposite direction...very quickly-

Rabid Fangirls: INUYASHAAAAAAAAA!

Just in case you missed the first one...

!WARNING!

Kai: Wow, you've made it two whole chapters and Ri-chan hasn't tried to kill you yet!

Kitsuki: -sweatdrops- Ri-chan?

Kai: Ya...Chiidori-chan. Ri-chan.

Kitsuki: Ah...well...that may be because I told her I, um, burned it...

Chiidori: What's going on over here? -smiles cutely-

Kitsuki: -hides fic in hakama- Nothing...

Chiidori: ...What did you just stuff down your shirt, Kitsuki?

Kitsuki: -meeps- nothing...

Chiidori: Lemme see.

Kitsuki: No! -runs-

Chiidori: Kitsuki! -lends chase-

-scuffle ensues during which Chiidori-chan gains access to the fic and proceeds to fall over from the shock of seeing even more written-

Kai: -whispers- Warning still applies! Girl on girl action straight ahead mon capiton! -winks-

Chapter 2 dedicated to Lady-of-TormentDeath and Crazy-Punk-Gurl (I LOVE YOU GUYS -wipes tears of happiness from eyes-)

Weeks passed. Due to a particularly frustrating day trying to keep the males in line, the two girls were walking together having banished the boys to the front of the party to sulk as they wished. They talked, as usual, of things that anyone else would care nothing about. Conversation turned to the afore mentioned menfolk, which somehow led to the topic of…themselves.

"Ne, Sango-chan, you're probably going to think I'm crazy for this," the miko said with a smile.

"Try me," she replied, unable to think of anything that might possibly disturb her coming from Kagome.

"Well, I've been thinking…that is, I've thought about…" she glanced forward toward the guys, then lowered her voice conspiratorially. "I've thought about kissing you before."

Sango blinked a little in surprise. "I have too!" she replied, remembering at the last minute to keep her voice down as well. "Well, not about kissing I me /I but about me kissing you…" she blushed slightly, realizing that she'd just said something out loud that she really shouldn't have. But as she glanced back at the miko she witnessed a blush to mirror her own, but also a happy, confidant smile. If Kagome was okay with admitting such things to her, then it couldn't be I that /I wrong, could it?

Although she thought little of it at the time, their conversation turned back to more normal topics soon after that, and a week or two went by with no mention of their confessions, no tense silences, and a surprising lack of awkward bathing sessions.

In fact, with the exception of a relieved (and therefore more relaxed) taijiya, absolutely nothing came of the whispered taboo until late one night some time later. The entire group was walking and had been all day…and the day before that…and the day before I that /i ...

Kagome was tired, sore, exhausted...to say nothing of thoroughly bored. The landscape had barely changed for days on end so there was nothing new to look at and the only thing to listen to was the boys bickering and the taijiya's repeated monk beatings,which (amusing as the latter were at times) did nothing to keep her mind from wandering off to strange thoughts as a way to pass the time. As far as her and InuYasha went...well, she'd been down that road many times before and it kept leading straight to opressively humid bogs, sheer cliffs, large angry youkai, and other things of that sort. It made her head spin, thoughts twisted into more knots and tangles than a family of contortionists playing some kind of extreme twister. She'd bothered to think about her and Miroku, her and Shippou, even her and Kirara, but their relationships were so simple and straightforward that those thoughtlines could only keep her attention for an hour or so. So she'd gone to something far more interesting to tangle out in her mind that didn't stab quite so much as InuYasha's thorns. After a couple days through the barren landscape, her curiosity was at a peak and that night, as they all drifted to sleep, she eyed InuYasha and Miroku suspiciously for any signs of being awake before requesting that Sango accompany her for a short walk.

Once they were a fair distance from the softly crackling embers of the fire, the younger girl reached up and, with no warning whatsoever, boldy pressed her lips against the other's. It was barely a kiss; the poor taijiya had absolutely no experience in such a thing and was so dumbfounded that by the time she thought to respond to such an action it was over. The sable night sky hid her sudden blush for the most part, but the stars twinkled with just enough mischievous light to reveal her fevered features to the only person whose opinion truly weighted on her at that time.

"Aw, kawaii! You're so cute when you're blushing!" the miko said with a smile. "Now why might we be so red tonight?" she teased, hugging Sango to herself. Due to the slight incline they were on, she hit her right at her chest and gratefully buried her face away from sight in the world's safest hidest place (directly between Kagome's boobs) as she returned the gesture, clinging to the safe reality of the girl's uniform in the sudden chaos that had hit her.

"Mm?" Kagome prodded, stroking the coffee-brown locks.

"Well..." she fought to keep the flush from increasing even farther in volume as she sought a reply suitable to the current...situation. "I've never...done that..before..." Mission failed. The blush flared up as high as it had ever gone and showed no signs of receding. She gave a weak laugh that was actually closer to a nervous cough and added in an even quieter voice, "I'm sorry I'm so bad at it..."

The other girl stared down at the top of her friend's head and gave a little smile, shaking her head at the other's insecurities. "S'ok. I've kissed more people than you, after all. I don't expect you to be wonderfully amazing at it all of a sudden. Besides," she paused slightly, allowing a rather large, questionable grin to spread across her face, "this way I get to teach you."

Sango dared to look up at her in disbelief. She wasn't crazy? Kagome wasn't...she wasn't...they weren't crazy? She wasn't dreaming? Thoughts floated through her muzzy brain, bumping into each other, stalking each other, mugging each other...until finally one found its way to the forefront. 'Wait...did she just kiss me!'


	4. Ai?

Disclaimer:  
InuYasha: -grumbles as he stalks in the room wearing a pair of Sesshoumaru's pants-  
Kai: -stops parading around in InuYasha's pants to stare at him- Wai! Sesshou-nii-chan's being nice to you finally!  
InuYasha: -glares- Why the HELL would you think that!  
Kai: -blinks innocently- He's letting you wear his pants...  
Miroku: -snickers- What exactly were you two doing to get in such a predicament.  
Kitsuki: Sadly, not you, Miroku. For all that would make your day.  
Miroku: -makes a face- I do _not_ like InuYasha.  
Chiidori and Kitsuki: -nodnod- Ah, ah, wakata! We know. -exchange secretive glances-  
Kai: -blinks in confusion- Ki-chan no own the show...or Nii-chan...or any of that...but if she goes to Japan, maybe she can take Takahashi home with her!

I think I just like writing these, but...

WARNING! WARNING! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!

...-coughs-...

Chiidori: -remains passed out after the first time she found the manuscript...expanded-  
Kai: Mouu, Ki-chan, you'd better hope she doesn't wake up any time soon! This is getting pretty risque!  
Kitsuki: -sighs- Ya, I know...I need to hide it somewhere...or just memorize it and burn the paper or something...  
Chiidori: Ugh...I had this dream...that Kitsuki wrote this dirty fic...  
Kitsuki: Eh! It's not dirty! It's just...just...-blushes-  
Chiidori: It wasn't a dream! Kitsukiiiiiiiiiiiii...  
Kai: It's not dirty, it's just shoujo-ai! Hooray for the girls that like each other more than society says they should! -waves around flags- Everyone, pray for Kitsuki's survival!

(((Chapter 3)))

What happened next was rather difficult for Sango to comprehend. A sudden flurry of follow-up kisses made her dizzy to the point where she could barely keep her feet beneath her. Her knees were curiously weak and she found to her shock that her entire body was shaking, badly. In a desparate and ultimately useless attempt to keep herself upright, she tightened her grip on the other girl's skirt. As her knees gave way, her hands clenched tighter in an unconscious response, pulling the still present tear apart and creating a rather interesting fashion statement for Kagome at the same time. Sango blushed as she found herself sitting on the rough ground, eye level with the smooth curve of one pale upper leg. It wasn't so much where she had landed that really surprised her as it was the way her heart began to beat even faster because of it, the way she _knew_ that her legs had no hope of supporting her now. It didn't occur to her at the time, as the young miko sank to her level and pressed gentle lips against her own, that such a thing was _wrong_ per se. It felt so right, so natural, she never even though to question it.

She felt herself respond clumsily, trying to focus all her bewildering emotions into each new kiss as if the intimate contact could somehow clarify things. She felt a desparate need to let the other know exactly what she felt toward her. She _needed_ her to know that she'd fallen for her somewhere along the way. She wanted to tell her that it had gotten to the point where she watched her every move, admiring the way her hair swung ever so slightly when she walked, cherishing every second of laughter that escaped the lips she felt now against her own, soft and warm. She wanted to tell her that she went to sleep after her every night not simply to keep watch, but so she wouldn't miss a moment of her awake, that she woke every morning just to hear her voice even when the words formed were unmerciful and rough due to a lack of any comfortable or sufficient sleep. The taijiya could feel the desire to show her love exactly how she loved her building someone in her stomach...unless that was just the effect of Kagome's slender fingers trailing up green fabric to press gently at just the right place...She felt a curious noise somewhere between a whimper and a soft cry of pain escape into the night air and briefly wondered if it had come from her before she was carried off by yet more kisses. Each one was something new, something wonderful and cherised. Fingers pressed more insistently, forcing her to make it a conscious decision to keep quiet. Neither knew quite how long this would have gone on nor how far it would have gotten if they had not heard leaves crackling a short distance off followed by a childish voice calling out, "Kagomeeee! Sangoooo!" and the curious trilling meow that could only be Kirara's.

They froze, both reddening slightly. Kagome made an exasperated noise in the back of her throat before standing and reaching down a hand to the other. Sango took it hesitantly, finding herself somehow unable to look the miko in the eye, but smiling softly to herself just the same.

"N-ne, Kagome-chan..." she began, staring pointedly at her no-longer-shoed feet and twisting her skirt round and round in her hands nervously, "A-about this..."

Kagome reached over to lift the other girl's face up to hers. "Himitsu," she answered quietly to the unspoken question, smiling reassurance as she leaned in for a last short kiss.

**ANMesa sorries it took so long, minna --;; You would not _believe_ the shit that's been going on!**


	5. Daijoubu?

Kitsuki: -sighs and gnaws on the end of a pencil-

Kai: What's wrong?

Kitsuki: I've been stuck. .. I can't think of anything but smut right now. I feel dirty...

Kai: So...write smut?

Kitsuki: I don't want this to be one big smut-fest, though! They've got a relationship beyond that after all...

Kai: -nods like a wise sage- Hai, hai young grasshopper. Ye and Chiidori do at that.

Kitsuki: -turns bright red- E-eh!

Chiidori: -wanders the nearby woods with a large mallet- Must...find...

Kai: oo;;;

Kitsuki: She's still not too happy about this whole thing...

Kai: And it still has shoujo-ai!

Shippou: What's...never mind.

Kitsuki: --

Kai: o

Warning: ...If you didn't know this was Shoujo-ai by now...what the hell have i you /i been reading? I mean, seriously. It reeks of it. Can't you smell it? -waves the manuscript under their nose- Reeks, REEKS I TELL YOU!

Miroku was doing what monks of his nature did best: spying on girls in the bath. It had only been a couple of nights ago that both Sango and Kagome had returned from a walk flushed and with little dirt stains on their clothes. His curiosity had been peaked.

"I fell down some stupid little hill," Kagome had said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head with one hand. Sango had nodded hastily, announced she was going to sleep, and rolled herself up in a blanket with her back to the rest of them. The young miko had joined her shortly, insisting that they both sleep in her sleeping bag since it was getting colder at night.

"InuYasha, you must be so cold sleeping by yourself in that tree every night," Miroku had said in his best sympathetic voice. "Why don't you come down here and sleep in my safe warm arms?" He'd been hit simoultaneously from two directions with a shoe and a rock, courtesy of both Kagome and InuYasha.

He quirked an eyebrow now at the girls in the stream. It may not have been a public bathhouse, but Miroku took a secret pride in the fact that he could sneak up on any location containing unclad females and, still without being noticed, sit and watch them as long as he wanted. He _had_ to know what they'd really been up to! It would offend his pride as a 'sukube bozu' if he didn't. And if there was one thing he was absolutely sure of it was that he was indeed a perverted excuse for a Buddhist monk.

'If only I wasn't watching those two!' he lamented silently. It appeared that this latest stop on their quest had taken them to a village where all the women bathed at the same time in the same stream and that was a lot of breast for the poor monk to take in while also trying to eavesdrop on the miko and the taijiya. He wondered if they were going to go for another 'walk' and if so, if it would be easier to follow them then...

Even as he tuned into their conversation he grew bored with the whole thing. He flapped his hands and fluttered his eyelashes as he silently mocked them, mouthing what they said. In his head a little Miroku-dressed-as-Kagome flapped its hands at a Miroku-dressed-as-Sango.

"Girl, we have got to get those split ends taken care _of_ ," it said, taking hold on Miro-Sango's hair.

"I can't do anything with them," the other replied, leaning backwards into the Kago-Miroku.

The real Miroku paid less attention to the boring girl talk in front of him and began to focus on the two hims-that-weren't-him in his head. Things were heating up! Or maybe Miro-Sango's clothes had melted off...He smiled to himself. Girls with girls was good. Yes, it was...His eyes grew wide and he started choking on his own spit. He'd conveniently forgotten that the two in his head were him dressed as girls.

'Aaaahhhhh, why am I doing that! Don't touch that! It's mine anyway but still! Gaaaaaah!" He rolled around in his little hiding place, yelling at the two Miroku's in his head doing horrible horrible things. 'Noooooo, girls can do that to other girls, but guys shouldn't...NO! Don't put that_there_! Oh God, take it out! Don't put it back in! GAAAAH! MY EYES!'

The girls stared at the monk rolling around in the dirt. If he hadn't been behaving so...oddly...they'd have been angry with them, but as things stood...

"Houshi-sama...have you been eating Kirara's..what was it called, Kagome?"

"Catnip," supplied the other. "And I think it only works on cats..."

Sango hmphed and started poking the tortured man with a stick. "Houshi-sama, are you secretly a cat youkai and been eating Kirara's catnip?"

Kagome giggled as the monk continued rolling and shouting to people in his head. She'd forgotten the amusing situations she tended to find herself in when she and Sango went places without the boys. She'd been avoiding her the past week after... _that_ . Her face still burned with shame every time she thought about it. She really had no right toact upon the thoughts of kissing the other girl that had crowded her head, especially not when the other was so naieve about the whole thing. She eyed her back as the taijiya began telling the monk what the little people in his head were doing now. "They're kissing! Oh, tongue! Tongue! I see tongue!" The monk rolled like his life (or maybe just his sanity) depended on it. Speaking from experience, Kagome would have estimated that the taijiya's total number of even slightly sexual encounters and/or experience from before that night had numbered an astounding...none. She sighed. Great, so she'd taken advantage of her best friend to act on a whim. But even as she avoided her and beat herself mentally for it, Sango herself went around in a happy little daze. She felt as though the world was finally something decent again even after the massacre she'd lived through. Things had never quite seemed whole after that, even when she'd first met InuYasha-tachi. But now...the birds sang just for her, the sky was bluer than she'd ever seen it, water clearer, food tastier. She might have been a renowned warrior capable of snapping just about anything's neck given half a chance, but now she was reduced to a lovestruck idiot and her brain was carefully shielding this information from her. She worked by instict. It had served her well in the past so she wasn't going to stop now. Instict told her that Kagome's kisses made her heart soar and therefor were good and she wasn't about to argue.

_Waaaah, writer's block stalks me like a hungry hungry stalk-ie thing! Sumimasen! Sumimasen! I'm so sorry everyone! I know it's been forever, but I'm trying to work in more of that romance you guys wanted. Sadly, I've been having a nice bout with the good old depression factor, so romance and happy have been a little evasive. I'm getting through it though, so hopefully you'll get more soon_

_Kitsuki_


	6. Nandaio?

Disclaimer: Oh. My. God. I'm not dead! But sadly, I still do not own InuYasha. -tear- Or Kagome. Or Sango. Or Shippou. Or -sniffle- cute adorable Kirara. -sniffles sadly- Or Miroku. If I owned Miroku, I'd sic him on people. Go, Miroku! Grope attack! Or would that be in he was a Pokemon...?

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long, minna ;-; Lots and lots of stuff been goings on, most of which I'd just as soon not get into. But everyone's been updating! Things that haven't been updated since January have been updated! All the authors are such an inspiration! I love reading their works, and I hope that someone out there gets some kind of enjoyment out of mine. So for the sake of those few individuals that actually like my random ramblings, I will not let this die! -strikes a dramatic pose-

Kitsuki: -grumbles and hurls a pencil at the wall- It's 3:25 in the morning! I have school in the morning! I have writer's block stiiiiiill! ;-;

Kai: There, there. -pats her head- You'll get it someday.

Kitsuki: -sniffles- You think so?

Kai: -nods- Yis!

Kitsuki: I guess...I guess it's not just me...none of the fics I have on alert have updated for over a month now...it must be a cosmic thing...

Chiidori: -catches little snatches of shoujo-ai from the air and keeps them in a jar- Must...stop...um...cheeze?

Shippou: -jumps from a nearby bush- CHIIDORI-CHAN!

Chiidori: OO HOLY SHIT MONKIES! -drops the jar which shatters-

Kai: Oooo, lookie! Shoujo-ai!

Miroku: Where!

Kitsuki: Everywhere! 3

OMFG! IT'S STILL THERE! THE SHOUJO! THE AI! THE SHOUJO-AI! GREAT GODS, IT'S STILL A BUNCH OF GIRL ON GIRL GOODNESS! SATAN BE PRAISED! XD

Miroku spent the next week wandering about in a daze, not having fully recovered from the mental trauma of molesting himself in his mind. The girls followed him, concerned.

"Houshi-sama..." Sango began, more than once with concern in her voice.

He'd turn red and spin around, hand clamped over his mouth. Just seeing either of them made him remember what had led up to the yaoi he hadn't known he was capable of imagining.

When Kagome tried to reach him with a concerned, "Miroku-sama...", he pointed an accusing finger at her and declared, "Next time I'll make sure it you and Sango!" She'd sweatdropped, turned, and left the monk to his own devices.

Days continued to pass without much event past the occasional tramautized Miroku making cryptic comments and the occasional youkai scare. InuYasha was more tense than ever now as they'd gone nearly a week with no encounters despite their being in a densely populated area. It showed in the stiff way he walked, muscles tensed for any kind of danger; the way his silvery ears twitched back and forth at imagined noises; the way one clawed hand always seemed to drift toward the hilt at his side. The hanyou had everyone else on edge as well; Miroku had finally ceased declaring he would make the girls make out with each other (not that anyone knew that was what he was saying), Sango's hand constantly inched back toward Hiraikotsu or tightened nervously on its strap across her shoulder, Shippou clung to Kagome's shoulder with anxious fear while Kagome herself had taken to carrying her bow in her hand rather than on her back.

Each night as they stopped to make camp, InuYasha prowled around restlessly, inspected every tree, boulder, dip in the terrain. After another week of it, Miroku finally told him to stop and just sit down already. He complied, grumbling rebelliously the entire time. A long while later, he fell into an uneasy, exhausted sleep. Miroku collapsed in a heap where he sat and mumbled a goodnight to the girls and Shippou.

"I almost wish we'd get attacked already," Sango mused, poking at their fire with a stick.

"I hate to say it, but we'd better or I'm going to attack him," the younger girl replied, jerking her head back toward the dozing hanyou. Unnoticed Shippou and Kirara watched InuYasha shiver lightly in the cold night air. Shippou traipsed a short distance into the trees, gathering twigs and bringing them back to stack quietly around his constant tormentor. Kirara mewed a question the small kitsune answer with a finger to his lips, signaling silence.

Sango sighed and tossed her poking stick to the side, lying back and pillowing her head on her hands.

"Ne...Sango-chan?"

"Mmm?" she replied, eyes closed.

"Y-you don't think...Miroku...I mean, he's been acting odd lately..or, he was until he stopped but...some of the things he's been saying...you don't think..." she stumbled her way through her words, eyebrows furrowed together in concern.

The taijiya rolled to her stomach, propped her chin in one both hands, eyebrows following Kagome's.

"I don't think so. I think he's just a horndog that wishes he could watch girls make out," she replied reasonably, her answer eliciting a relieved sigh from her friend. She could understand that. It hadn't exactly become coherent to her conscious thoughts yet, but she sensed that the encounter of weeks past should remain their secret. Besides, hadn't Kagome said to keep it a secret? She blushed as the image of the slightly flushed, mischievously amused schoolgirl winked at her in her mind's eye, perfect lips mouthing the barely heard "hi-mi-tsu". Sango dropped her head, flushed herself and trying to hide behind her hair.

Shippou, meanwhile, continued trotting back and forth behind them, piling wood around the hanyou as the neko youkai followed behind him with the occasional small twig.

Kagome stared sightlessly at the starlit sky, alone with her thoughts. What if, depsite Sango's reassurances, Miroku had come across them that night? It would be just like him to simply sit and watch! She scowled, falling from her sitting position into a loose pile of Kagome sprawled across the ground. Inuyasha was so antsy all the time, maybe he suspected too! She sighed and rolled slightly to one side. But hadn't it been Shippou and Kirara to come looking for them? Kirara had simply mewled adorably at her partner and jumped into her arms. Shippou had latched onto one of Kagome's legs and demanded a "ride" back to camp. She made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat and rolled to the other side. Shippou knew more than he let on though. He was a child, not stupid. Kirara couldn't tell anyone, so she was no worry. But then, what about the two boys? Had Shippou made some innocent erstwhile comment they'd deciphered? She rolled back and forth in ernest now, creating a path in the dirt. Sango looked up and blinked at her friend's actions.

"Kagome...chan?"

She stopped in mid-roll, looking guiltily at the other girl. The taijiya brought her hand to Kagome's forehead, gently brushing her bangs back and leaning close, face flushing unconsciously.

"You don't have a fever..." She made the mistake of looking down into brilliant hazel eyes and lost herself. It was so easy she didn't even notice it happening anymore. "Kago..me...?" she whispered, half to herself. The younger girl swallowed hard, her own flush painting her cheeks. The taijiya leaned in closer without realizing it

She was stopped halfway to her goal by a loud noise behind her. She gripped Kagome's arm and rose to a crouch, hastily shoving the younger girl behind her as she turned to face the source of the disturbance. The schoolgirl peered over her shoulder and immediately a "you're kidding, right?" look crossed her face, mirrored on her would-be lover's.

InuYasha was trying to stomp out a large pile of burning tree bits and leaf litter circling his former sleeping spot, alternating between attempts at grinding the flaming sticks into the dirt and trying to catch the kitsune cowering behind a less than adequate rock a short distance away. Shippou scampered the distance to the girls and launched himself into Kagome's arms, sobbing his side of the story.

"H-he was sh-sh-shivering so I though he might b-be cooooooold," he wailed, tiny hands clutching the front of her uniform. "He always w-wears the f-f-fire rat thing and it r-repels fire so I just...I just thought..." he burst into full-fledged tears of anguish and buried his face in her chest as InuYasha glared menacingly in his direction, surrounded by flames.

Sango sighed and threw her formerly disgarded poking stick at the hanyou, hitting him between the eyes. He turned his outrage to her, which she endured without change of expression.

"If you hadn't been paying so much attention to Shippou, trying to kill him by glaring at him, you'd have noticed it before it hit you," she stated, unconcerned as he stomped his way toward her, pushing his wide, slightly smoking sleeves up in preparation for a fight. Miroku jumped in to hold him back and Sango yawned, rising from her crouch and stalking to him. She poked his nose with her index finger, pushing him back slightly as he fumed. "Hush and go back to sleep, InuYasha. We'll make sure no one tries to roast you." She finished her sentence with an amused smirk that only made the hanyou twitch more and flex his hand in annoyance. He wasn't stupid, however, just angry. He'd noticed that, despite the nonchalant attitude Sango's own muscles were as tensed as his and her hand rested the entire time on the hilt of her rarely used sword. She'd put up a fight and while he had no doubt he could have won, he hadn't wanted to push it...especially not with the murderous glint behind her otherwise calm eyes. He huffed and stalked away to find somewhere peaceful to sleep.


End file.
